We can’t hope to solve global ills without action against poverty

Thursday, December 11, 2014

In recent years there has been growing global awareness of the interplay between rights and the development process and a generalised recognition of social determinants of health connecting poverty, equality and health. Yet, for millions of people throughout the world, the full enjoyment of the right to health still remains a distant goal.

Poverty is still one of the driving forces behind ill health, a lack of access to healthcare and medicines and consistent underdevelopment. According to the World Bank, 700m fewer people across developing regions lived in conditions of extreme poverty in 2010 than in 1990. Yet every day thousands of children, women and men die silently from preventable diseases associated with poverty.

The United Nations acknowledges these issues and streamlines guidance on the subject alongside the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, supporting the actions of member states and multilateral development agencies.